April 13, 2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - In a midweek non-conference contest, the Santa Clara softball team (5-35, 0-8 PCSC) will travel to local rival No. 2 Stanford to take on the Cardinal at 6 p.m. at Smith Family Stadium in Stanford, Calif. This will be the second time SCU will take on SU this season. The Northern California squads squared off for the first time at the Stanford Invitational on March 21. The Cardinal bested the Broncos 6-1 in the game.

Last Time Out
Santa Clara is battling a rough spell, as they were swept by PCSC rival Loyola Marymount in their last series from April 10-11. In their first home stand in almost a month, the Broncos' dropped all four games to the Lions. In their conference home opener, Santa Clara came out and kept pace with LMU. With the score tied at two-all after four innings, a six-run Loyola Marymount inning halted SCU's chance of earning their first PCSC victory. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Lions' took the game in five innings with an 11-0 shutout.

The following day, the Broncos once again kept pace with the Lions in the first four innings. After being down 3-1, SCU responded with four runs in the fourth inning. In the bottom half of the inning LMU scored a lone run and Santa Clara posted their sixth run of the game in the following inning. With a 6-4 SCU lead heading into the sixth, Loyola Marymount took off with a seven-run inning to once again prevent Santa Clara from posting a home win on the weekend. In the final game of the series, the Lions shutout the Broncos for the second time, with a 9-0 win.

Scouting No. 2 Stanford
Coming off a two-game losing streak, the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal (35-4, 6-3 Pac-10) have remained in the top-25 of the national poll all season. Behind pitching ace Missy Pena, Stanford has been in the top-five for a majority of the season. Pena is 25-3 this season and is posting a 0.90 ERA. In 29 appearances, she's compiled 247 strikeouts, 26 complete games and 14 shutouts. In 193.2 innings pitched she's given up 108 hits, 42 walks, 12 doubles, five home runs and one triple. Offensively, Alissa Haber is hitting .418 in 39 straight starts. She's 56-for-134, with 43 runs, 19 RBIs, 16 doubles, six home runs and three triples.

On Deck
After their lone non-conference game on Tuesday, the Broncos return to PCSC action with a four-game series at Saint Mary's from April 18-19, in Moraga, Calif.